US Savings Rate Negative for Seventh Straight Month

The Commerce Department determined that Americans spent more than they earned for the seventh straight month in November, 2005, increasing the chance that the US will have a negative savings rate for 2005 as a whole, Kevin Lansing, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, recently told the San Francisco Gate newspaper. If that happens, it would be the first time the US had a negative savings rate since the Great Depression. Although strong consumer spending has boosted the US economy in recent years, many economists say housing prices will, at best, flatten out, breaking the cycle of refinancing that has allowed consumers to borrow and spend.

Zoomerang is Internet Survey Market Leader

Zoomerang is the market leader ahead of other Internet-based market research survey service providers EZquestionnaire, KeySurvey and Survey Monkey. Zoomerang offers a large e-mail database that can be tailored to its client's survey needs, while its competitors do not. A CNNMoney.com report describes how Konstantin Guericke, the co-founder of LinkedIn, an online networking tool for professionals, used a Zoomerang survey to poll LinkedIn clients, and determine that 80 percent wanted him to add a search function, compared with 50 percent voting for the addition of photographs. All of the on-line surveys mentioned above are easy and less expensive than phone surveys, but do-it-yourselfers run the risk of creating a poorly designed survey, or misinterpreting the results.

Maryland Fair Share Bill Impacts Wal-Mart

Maryland's legislative branch overrode Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich's veto to pass a bill that would require companies with more than 10,000 employees in the state to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits, or pay the balance into a state low-income health insurance fund. Four companies - Northrop Grumman, Giant Foods, Johns Hopkins University, and Wal-Mart, have this many employees in Maryland, but only Wal-Mart fails to spend at least 8 percent on healthcare. Burt Flickinger, an independent retail analyst, thinks the Maryland bill could have "massive" implications for the world's largest retailer. At least 13 other states proposed similar "Pay or Play" bills in the past year, and the measure is still alive in New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington, reports Parija Bhatnagar for CNNMoney.com.

Did I Pay That Vendor Twice -- Again?

Business owners who want to achieve improved accounts payable practices can follow these steps: 1) Have all invoices mailed to the individual responsible for accounts payable, 2) Share knowledge across their organization, 3) Take advantage of vendor discounts, 4) Supervise and review accounts payable activities, 5) Segregate responsibilities. An article in the January '06 "New York Enterprise Report" provides all the details.